Folding rule construction



July 1, 1941. c. WEST FOLDING RULE CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 10, 1941 ATTO Patented July I, 1941 1 UNITE D STATES PATENT GFFICE .j; I 2,247,647 i I FOLDING RU-LE CONSTRUCTION Ch'esterWest, Brooklyn, Y. Application January 10, 1941, Serial No. 373,868 8 Claims. (01; ss oa) This invention relates to folding rule construction and more particularly to'an attachment for existing types of folding rules. I

One of the objects of this invention is to 'provide a folding rule construction with adequate r protection, at the end section or sections, of the markings and indicia, against wear and obliteration. Another object is to provide a simple, practical and inexpensive attachment capable 'of ready application to an existing type'of folding rule, particularly to replace or replenish the indicia on that face of that end section or those end sections where the original indicia become obliterated from handling, abrasion, use, and the like. Another object is to provide a practical, inexpensive and dependable device readily applicable to the worn or worn oiT face of an end sec tion of a folding rule to extend the useful life of the latter. Another object is to provide an attachment of the above-mentioned character'that will be inexpensive to manufacture and easy-to apply to a rule. Another object is in general to improve and extend the utility of folding rules. Other objects will be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter. V i 1 The invention accordingly consists'in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements'of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scope of the application of dicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing in whichare shown several of the various possible embodiments of my invention, I

Figure 1 is a small-scale front elevation show ing an extended foldable rule in one form of use and illustrating a form of rule to which my-invention is applicable; a

Figure 2 is a front elevation of an end section which will .be' inshowing the device of my invention attached thereto;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation thereof;

Figure 4 is a sectional view'as seen along the line 4-4 of Figures 2 and 3;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of one vice;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of another form of device; 1

Figure and Figure 8 is a transverse sectional view as seen along the line 88 of Figure 7.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views in the drawmg.

'7 is a side elevation of another form,

form of .de-

-As conducive to a clearer understanding of certain features of my invention, reference might first be made to Figure 1 of the drawing in which I have indicated at ID, in side elevation, a fold ingrule of any number of sections, illustratively six six-inch sections, made of any suitable mate rial, usually wood or composition, and fiatwise overlapped at and adjacent ends where they are pivotally secured together by any suitable form of hinge construction, usually of the spring or snap hinge type, constructed in any usual or suitable way to hold any two pivoted'sectionsin aline'ment either in overlapped or folded relation or in extended or unfolded relation. In the use-of rules of this type, an endmost section, such as the section II in Figure 1, is found in prac-' tice to have its under face ll subjected to most Wear, as compared to the'fac'es of others of the sections excepting the corresponding face of the opposite end section, and frequently the rate of wear is increased by the practice of sliding the extended rule l0 along the surface being measured, such as a concrete floor or wall 12, whence the markings on the face I l are relatively quickly worn oif. Such rapid wear handicaps the user of the rule and frequently the rule is discarded and: has to be replaced by a new one, even though the other sections, excepting perhaps the opposite end section, are still perfectly usable. One of the dominant aims of this invention is to provide a construction that will materially extend the life or usefulness of rules of this type.

1 Accordingly, I provide an attachment generally indicated by the reference character l5, making 9 it of a good Wear-resisting material, such as meta1, preferably suitably. tempered or hardened steel, and give it a main body portion l5 of a length and breadth to rest against and cover over the mutilated or worn face ll of section II. In width, therefore, it may be on the order of in length it may be on the order of 6 /2" or so, and in thickness it may be on the order of 3%".

In that face of part l5 that is to be exposed, that is, the front face visible in Figure 2, 1 provide in any suitable manner as by etching or embossing, the indicia to match the indicia initially borne on the face I I a of therule section, as indicated in Figure 2.

The part l5 I arrange for ready attachment to the end section II. Illustratively, and as is better shown in Figures 3 and 5, I provide it with end extensions, preferably integrally formed therewith, which are bent upwardly, as viewed in Figure 5, at about right angles to the part I 5 and thence bent horizontally into substantial 2. parallelism to the part l, as shown at l6 and I1, though these parts l6 and H, which are to take against the back face II of the section H, are preferably inclined or curved downwardly toward the part l5, the metal, particularly when it is made of sheet steel suitably tempered, having a good degree of springiness to resiliently clamp the respective ends of the section II against the upper face, as viewed in Figure 5 of the part l5, and thus to maintain the assembly of the device l5tothesectionll. i

As is better shown in Figure 3, the parts l6, I! may be of less width than the width of the section H, thus to encumber as little as possible the face II, which is to slide into engagement with the face of the succeeding section when the rule is folded up, and preferably that securing element that is to take overthe hingeend of ping. actions by the latten Also, as with the formv the section I I is tapered or somewhat pointed. So...

that, with certain types of hinges, such as the kind shown in Figure 3, where theghingepin l8 pivotally connects two sheet metal plate-.memberg. Wand 2.0. respectively secured to the secti'ons H and 21, these parts beingusual with the above-mentioned type of snap hinge, the part 11 may be. entered in under one end of the metal plate, lf9,,as, appears clearly in Figure 3'.

Insuch a typical construction,- the-plate mem hers; I 9 and maybe secured to their respective rule sections, as by side flanges F which may function to act as grip-ping .clampsand usually one'of the; plates, such as plate l9, has. alongitudinally extending depression [Shinto on out of which a corresponding longitudinallyjextending raised or projecting portion. (not shown) of the companion plate 20 rides or snaps during the folding of unfolding of the rule; Therewis sufficient play or give to permit the part H to. be entered in between the plate l9 and the face N of the section II, and this action may befacilitated by the tapered shape of the part [T and preferably also by tapering its thickness at its apex so that entry of the prong-like part l.|.,-as by wedging itself in between the parts i9 and H, takes place more readily. I

In such case, the device i5 is firstmanipuiated to ho'ok the right-hand end as viewed inFigures 2. 3 and 5 flatwise' onto the hinge end of section H"; member H entering under the plate l9,- whence thedevicelS is swung, in its own plane and substantially about the securing device I! as a pivot, relative to the end section H to enter its free nd flatwise in under the part Hi. This operation may be accompanied by some springing or yielding of the parts at'the ends of the part l5, particularly where, as in the preferred'case, the horizontal spacing between the upstanding parts, as viewed in Figure 5, closely matches the length of the'section ll. Thereby, a secure attaehment is effected, the devices It and l'1, by their spring action, clamping the endporti'ons of the section l l' dependably' against thepart [5, while the snugness of the lengthwise fit may bring into play a corresponding springiness of the upstanding or vertical portions of the elements I5 and I1, thus yieldingly to grip the section 'H endwi'se. Thus, the part l5 is held snugly against the face I l throughout its length, somewhat as shown in Figure 4. a

If desired, the device [5, particularly when made of a springy material, maybe initially set to have a normal curvature, as shown in Figure 6, with its rule-engaging face l5 convex; When applied to the section I I, the portion I 5 becomes,

preferably and illustratively on the tudinal edge portions of the part I5 are snugly ,and yieldingly pressed against the marginal portions of the face Il and a longitudinal stiffness .of semi-rigidity, yielding or resilient however,

may thusbecome effective to coact with the spring tongue parts l6, I! to insure a better gripof Figure 6, a snugness of engagement of the part l5 against the face I l throughout its length is-bette assured;

Thus, the device may be readily attached in place and dependably mainta-ined on the end section. 'Ifhe;device,,as,appears better from Figure. 2, isubstitutes forthe indicia on the face H of, the end section. itsown indicia'which, particularlywhere the device is made of a material of good; wear-resistingqualities, prolong the life and usefulness; of. the foldable rule. Even if the device; I-5 itself were to become worn, it is easily and inexpensively replaced by a new one; And as above indicated where, as is usually the case, one. face ofeachof; the; two. end sections are. subjected to .wear, each of such; faces is covered. over byadevice 1-5,:Its attachment is, easy and simple and itssecuring devices I have found in practice do not interf are with the folding or unfolding. of the rulegiin, this: connection, the insertion of the membenll-under the hinge plate I9 keepsit from-interference with the swinging; of the ad-' jacent sections, such as; the; section 2! of Figure 3:

Furthermore, I may achieve other advantages; folding rulesiof the type above-mentioned dohet bear; various kinds of tables, such'as decimal conversion tables, tables of pipefittings; tables/of, holes: to drill for various; kinds of threads ton-tap, and the. mechanic or workman using'such, rule isfrequently handicapped; howeverg-lrapply such. tables as by'embossi-ng'en gravingbr the like, on a face. of the device 15, back face 15?, a porticnofrwhich is shown in Figure 3. where such tablesfor such other handy indicia; arev indicated by the reference character 22; In such casethe quick' d'etachability of the device [5 or sometimeslby simplyswing-ing the left-hand end, as'seen ih Figure 3, out of engagement with the left-hand end of the rule section I l, brings the tables-22 to view;

Thus, it will'b'eseen that there has been provided in this invention a rule attachment in which the various objects hereinabove noted; together with manythor'oughly practical advantages, are successfully achieved. 5

As manypossibleembodiments. may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above. set forth, it is to be understood that all matter here; inbefore set forth, orshown in the. accompanying drawing, is to be interpreted as illustrative and'not in a limiting sense;

I claim; Y 1 The combination with a sectionalized rule of an indicia-bearing sheet-like device for protecting against wear a face of an end section of the rule or for replacing Worn indicia of said face, said device being relatively thin as compared to the thickness of said end section and dimensioned to rest against and cover said face of said end section of the rule and having securing means operative at its ends for readily assembling and attaching it to the said end section, said securing means holding said relatively thin device fiatwise against said face with the respective indicia thereof in registry.

2. The combination with a foldable rule having a plurality of sections connected together to permit extension or collapsing together, of a device for protecting against Wear a face of an end section of the rule or for replacing worn indicia of said face, said device being relatively thin as compared to the thickness of said end section and having a flat portion to rest against said face of said section and bearing indicia similar to those allocated to the said face, said device having means for securing it in place that comprise means extending over an end edge of said section and engaging the opposite face thereof, thereby to hold said relatively thin device flatwise against said face and by the engagement of said means with said end edge to hold said device in a position so that its indicia are in substantial registry with the indicia of said end section.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 in which said securing means comprises also means in engagement with the opposite end edge of said section and thereby ccact with said means that extends over said first-mentioned end edge to hold the device against longitudinal shift in either direction relative to said section and hold its indicia in registry with the indicia allocated to the face underlying said portion.

4. As an article of manufacture, an attachment for protecting against wear a rule section comprising an indicia-bearing elongated sheet-like member adapted to overlie a face of the rule and carrying rule-engaging means for quickly attaching it to the rule, said rule-engaging means and said rule section interlocking to hold said device against movement lengthwise of the rule section.

5. An article of manufacture comprising an attachment for a rule section in the form of an indicia-bearing elongated sheetdike member adapted to overlie a face of the rule and having means for quickly attaching it to the rule, said member being substantially plane to rest fiatwise against the rule and said attaching means comprising members adapted to extend over an edge of the rule and engage the opposite face of the section and holding said member against movement lengthwise of the rule.

6. An article of manufacture comprising an attachment for a rule section in the form of an indicia-bearing elongated sheet-like member adapt ed to overlie a face of the rule and having means for quickly attaching it to the rule, said member being of a springymaterial and being normally biassed into a longitudinal curvature, the indicia thereon being on the concave face.

7. A folding rule having pivotally connected sections, the pivotal connection of at least one section comprising a plate-like member resting against a face of the section, and an indiciabearing device resting against a face of said one section and having securing means that comprises an element in engagement with said platelike member.

8. A folding rule having pivotally connected sections, the pivotal connection of at least one section comprising a plate-like member resting against a face of the section, and an indiciabearing device resting against the opposite face of said one section and having means for holding it assembled thereto, said holding means comprising an element that extends about an edge of said one section and has a part entered in between said plate-like member and the face of said section to which said plate-like member is related.

CHESTER WEST. 

